Bacterial contamination of nonsterile gloves versus hands after hand hygiene.

Autor: Paul G; Department of Hospital Hygiene, Klinikum Stuttgart, Stuttgart Germany; Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Pneumology and Infectious Diseases, Katharinenhospital, Klinikum Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany; University of Cologne, Department I of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Cologne, Germany. Electronic address: gr.paul@klinikum-stuttgart.de., Bobic R; Department of Hospital Hygiene, Klinikum Stuttgart, Stuttgart Germany., Dawud J; Department of Hospital Hygiene, Klinikum Stuttgart, Stuttgart Germany., Ertelt K; Department of Hospital Hygiene, Klinikum Stuttgart, Stuttgart Germany., Fluhr M; Department of Hospital Hygiene, Klinikum Stuttgart, Stuttgart Germany., Harms G; Department of Hospital Hygiene, Klinikum Stuttgart, Stuttgart Germany., Jovanovic J; Department of Hospital Hygiene, Klinikum Stuttgart, Stuttgart Germany., Klink T; Department of Hospital Hygiene, Klinikum Stuttgart, Stuttgart Germany., Loh U; Department of Hospital Hygiene, Klinikum Stuttgart, Stuttgart Germany., Pollitt A; Department of Hospital Hygiene, Klinikum Stuttgart, Stuttgart Germany., Schäfer E; Department of Hospital Hygiene, Klinikum Stuttgart, Stuttgart Germany., Schöneck B; Department of Hospital Hygiene, Klinikum Stuttgart, Stuttgart Germany., Synowzik I; Department of Hospital Hygiene, Klinikum Stuttgart, Stuttgart Germany., Sethi S; Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Diagnostics, Klinikum Stuttgart, Stuttgart Germany., Trautmann M; Department of Hospital Hygiene, Klinikum Stuttgart, Stuttgart Germany.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: American journal of infection control [Am J Infect Control] 2021 Nov; Vol. 49 (11), pp. 1392-1394. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Apr 18.
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajic.2021.04.002
Abstrakt: Background: Nonsterile gloves (NSG) are often overused, while the emphasis should lie in hand hygiene (HH). Furthermore, improper HH leads to contamination of NSG in glove boxes. The aim of this study was to compare microbial loads on hands from health-care workers (HCW) after HH to NSG and to study the influence of position and filling level of glove boxes on contamination rates.
Methods: Fingerprints on agar plates were made from randomly chosen HCWs directly after HH. Plates were incubated and colony-forming units counted. NSG taken from glove boxes were also sampled. Filling level and position (horizontal vs vertical) of the glove boxes were recorded.
Results: Median colony-forming units count was similar for hands after HH (N = 107, median 1, IQR 5) and NSG (N = 185, median 1, IQR 2, P-value .33). Only few samples in both groups showed growth of pathogenic bacteria. Neither the filling level (P-value .76), nor the position of the glove box (P-value .68) had an influence on NSG contamination.
Conclusion: Microbial loads of hands after HH are comparable to NSG. Filling level or position of the glove box did not influence glove contamination. Whether similar microbial counts translate into comparable nosocomial infection rates warrants further research.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interests The authors have no conflicts of interest to report.
(Copyright © 2021 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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